Hand piece control for oral lavage



United States Patent [72] Inventor Seymour Troy [56] References Cited 15 Southfleld Road, Mount Vernon, New UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,420,228 1 1969 Kalbfeld 128/66 [211 PP 752,263 3,425,410 2/1969 Cammack 128/66 [22] Filed Aug. 13,1968 4s 1 Patented Nov. 17,1970 Primary Examiner-L" Trapp Attorney-Kane, Dalsimer, Kane, Sulhvan and Smith ABSTRACT: A hand piece for use with an appliance of the type that produces a pulsating stream .of liquid is provided PIECE CONTRQL FOR ORAL LAVAGE with means for controlling the stream passing therethrough. Claims 10 Drawing has! The hand piece includes a pressure-absorbing valve which [52] 0.8.. CI 128/66 w n in the closed position is adapted to act in unison with the [51] 1nt,C| A611 9/00 appliance piston and absorb the liquid passed from the ap- [50] Field of Search 128/62, 66, Pliance to t nd pi and t periodically return the liquid 224, 230, 234 to the appliance.

llll lllllllllllll Pat'enied Ngv.17,19?0 35%,437

Sheet of 4 away ATTORNEYS Patented No 11, 1970 Sheet Ill/d INVENTOR SE YMOUQ 714 07 ATTO R N EYS HAND PIECE CONTROL FOR ORAL LAYAGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Anappliance which is fast gaining in. popularity for effective oral hygiene provides a pulsating stream of liquid which may be directed through a'suitable nozzle into ones mouth. to aid in cleansing ones teeth and/or massaging ones gums. Heretofore, the control for commercial appliances of thistype has been provided on the appliance chassis. Such an arrangement, although suitable in many instances, oft'times presents difficulties where for one reason or another the. user is unable to reach the appliance or finds it inconvenient ordifficult to do so, but wishes to alter, vary, start, or stop the liquid stream.

Conventional appliances of this type attempt to reduce or control the pressure of the fluid in the system by bypassing a portion back to the reservoir. Thus the total pressure generated by the pump is divided proportionally between the two outlet channels. Under thesecircumstances, .both the pressure and mass of the ejected fluidwill decrease when the valve is partially closed. This results in much less feel to the pulsation. a

It is an object of the present invention to'provide an appliance of the described type wherein the full pressure as generated by the pump is directed toward the hand. piece. Since the present invention involves a one-path system, the pounds per square inch developed is consistent whether the valve is open, closed, or partially open. Thus .the liquid will be ejected at the same p.s.i. regardless of the position of the valve, although it will have a reduced kinetic energy factor due to the lesser mass ejected. Thus, while less fluidis ejected, the feel" remains the same. 7

Another object of thepresent inventionis to provide animproved hand piece to which the liquid discharge nozzle is affixed for such an appliance which includes integral controls forgoverning and regulating the stream of water or other liquid passing therethrough.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This and other beneficial objectives and advantages are attained in accordance with the present'invention by providing a hand piecefor use with an orallavage of the type'thatdelivers a pulsating stream of liquid from a reservoir vwith a body member having front and rear terminal sections and a passageway extending therebetweert. Portions of one of the terminal sections defines an inlet orifice adapted to be connected to the'outputof the lavage pump and. the other terminal section defines an outlet orifice which may be coupled to a mouth piece or nozzle. A transversecavity extends into the interior 'of the body member from the .out er surface and the lavage appliance'is in an operating condition and the hand piece valve member is in a closed position, the valve member will be returned to the appliance in the same manner as when the valve is inthe completely closed position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanyingdrawingsz.

FIG. I is an environmental view of a hand piece'embodying myinvention depicted with accessories of an oral hygiene ap-. pliance;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view partially-in section depicting-the hand piece of the present invention in the completely closed position with an oral lavage appliance which is in the off" position;

FIG. '3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the lavage appliance in the on position and delivering a small amount of liquid to the hand piece which is depicted in the-completely closed position, the arrows indicate the flow of the liquid.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 depicting the manner in which the liquid is returned to the appliance between adjacent pulses;

FIG. 5 is a view the fully open position;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational sectional view of the valve member of the hand piece of the present invention and-having an alternative inlet orifice configuration, the valve member set in the closed position;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along reference line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along reference Iine'8-8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 isajsectional view similar to FIG. 8 depicting the valve member set at an intermediate open position; and

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of the components comprising the valve member of the hand piece control unit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT vided extending between the outlet 30 of appliance 20 and rear terminal portion'24 of hand piece 22. A proper sealing clamp 32 secures tubing 28 to hand piece 22.

The forwardterminal portion 26 of hand piece 22 is adapted to receive and retain mouth piece 34, and defines the liquid di'scharge outlet of hand piece 22. As seen in FIG. .6 and as will be described in detail forthwith, an O-ring 90 is provided in terminal portion 26 to receive the mouth piece 34. A control knob 36 is mounted in the approximate center of hand piece 22 and serves to control the intensity of the stream of recess will align up with said passageway .thuszcausing the small amount of liquid delivered from the appliance during a single pulse to displace the piston and resilient means within the recess a sufficient amount to permit the liquid to be stored within said recess for the durationof the pulse. At the end of the pulse and 'priorto the followingpulse, the'resilient means and piston returnto their initial positions and thereby cooperate to return the small amount of liquid to the appliance.

When'the valve is in an open'position, the small amount of liquid delivered from the appliance bypasses the-valve member recess thereby passing unobstructedfrom the hand liquid emitted from the'liquid discharge outlet.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 2 through-6 wherein the oral lavage hand piece comprising the'present invention is depicted in more complete detail. As seen most clearly in F IG.'6,

hand piece 22 includes a generally hollow body member 38 having a passageway 40 extending therethrough. For purposes of clarity, the rear (inlet) and forward (outlet) portions of passageway 40 are referred to as 40a and 40b respectively. A cylindrical cavity 42 extends into the body member in communication with passageway 40. Valve member is sealingly and rotatably seated in cavity 42 and control knob 36 forms an outward extension of valve member 44.

similar to FIG. 3 depicting the hand piece in I Reference is now made to FIG. I for a more complete understanding of valve member 44. Thus, it may be noted that valve member 44 comprises a generally cylindrically shaped unit having an upper portion 56 adapted to extend beyond the body portion of the hand control and serve as a control knob. A generally cylindrical protrusion 58 depends from theunderside of knob portion 56 and includes a lower portion 60 provided with a longitudinally undercut section'62. Thus, lower portion 60 may be defined as comprising a forward portion 64, the diameter of which is the same as that of upper portion 58 and a rear portion 66, the diameter of which is somewhat less than that of forward portion 64. Diametrically opposed shoulders 63 and 65 (see also FIG. 8) connect the forward and rear portions 64 and 66. It is to be noted that shoulder 63 drops off rapidly while shoulder 65 gradually tapers between the larger diameter of the forward portion and the smaller diameter ,of the rear portion. As will be presently described, the gradual taper of shoulder 65 permits the user to select a position intermediate that of completely open or completely closed. The forward portion 64 defines an arc of approximately 90 while the rear portion 66 and tapered shoulder define an arc of approximately 270.

A hollow lug 68 which is coaxial with the cylindrical protrusion 58 depends below the bottom surface of lower portion 60 and serves to receive retaining ring 46 and ring holder 48 in the manner depicted in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. The holder 48 may be in the form of a resilient plug member as illustrated in the.

drawings and which is retained in the hollow lug 68 by a force fit, or it may be in the form of a self-tapping screw (not shown). The retaining ring 46 and holder 48 cooperate with the shoulder 50 which is undercut into the body member 22 in rotatably securing valve member 44 in position. O-ring 52'' serves to retain the liquid passing through the hand piece and prevent any leakage under valve member 44. A cover plate 54 serves to finish off the lower portion of body member 22 in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

A radially offset guide lug 70 depends from the bottom surface of the valve 44 and is adapted to ride in an arcuate retaining track or slot 72 (FIG. 6) which is formed in the bottom of the cavity 42. Thus, the valve member 44 is constrained to rotate within the are defined by the arcuate slot 72 (generally on the order of I30") and the extreme positions define the completely opened and completely closed valve positions.

A generally cylindrical recess 74 extends radially inwardly from the forward surface 64 at the approximate midway point of protrusion 58. A spring 76 and piston 78 are provided within recess 74 and the depth of recess 74 is such that the volume of liquid that may be contained therein when the spring 76 is completely compressed is at least equivalent to the liquid discharged by the appliance during any-single pulse. It should be obvious that any resilient, compressible means may be used in place of spring 76. In this regard,.the air alone which is entrapped behind the piston 78 has been found to be a very satisfactory absorbing medium in many applications.

.The location of recess 74 and its diameter are such that when valve member 44 is properly positioned within cavity 42, passageway 40 is substantially concentric with the center of recess 74. O-ring 80 is adapted to seat in the undercut 81 that defines the outward terminus of recess 74 and serves; to prevent any leakage of liquid from passageway 40 past valve member 44 when it is closed. Another O-ring 82 is provided at the upperend of cavity 42 and serves to prevent any liquid from leaking to the outer surface of hand piece 22;

The forward terminal portion 26 of body member 22 includes a nose piece 84 which serves to support mouth piece 34 in position. In this regard. therear end of mouth piece 34 is undercut at 86 as,is the inner surface of the forward end of body member 2,2,at 88 and O-ring90 is utilized to secure mouth piece 34 in position in a snap fit engaging undercuts 86 and, 88, thus permitting the relatively easy removal and replacement of mouth piece 34. In this regard, O-ring 90 also serves to prevent any leakage ofliquid through nose piece 84.

The operation of thehand piece control of the present invention is depicted in FIGS. 2 through 5. In FIG. 2, both the pump 92 in the lavage appliance 20 and the hand piece valve 44 are set in the off position. Thus, piston 94 of lavage pump 92 is immobile and thebjall valve 96 connecting the lavage reservoir 98 with the expulsion chamber 100 is in the open position so that liquid will bypass ball valve 96 and fill chamber 100.

In FIG. 3, the lavage appliance pump is in an operating condition. Piston 94 is driven upwardly simultaneously causing the expulsion of the quantity of liquid contained'in cavity 100 through outlet 102 into hand piece 22 and, at the same time, ball valve.96 moves upwardly and seals off reservoir 98. Valve member 44 of hand piece 22 is in the closed position (shown in FIG. 8) so that recess 74 of valve member 44 is aligned with passageway 40 and no liquid is able to bypass the valve member. Thus, the liquid forced out of chamber 100 will flow through the liquid tube 28 and passageway 40a into recess 74 where the force of the liquid will cause the contraction of spring 76 and the rearward movement of piston 78.

At the conclusion of the upward stroke of the pump piston 94 and as the piston begins to move downwardly, no pressure is exerted on the liquid contained in recess 74 and thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the spring 76 will relax and expand thereby moving piston 78 forwardly and in so doing will drive any liquid contained in recess 74 back toward the inlet orifice. The operation depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 will repeat and continue so long as the appliance pump is in an operating condition and the hand piece valve 44 is in a closed condition.

It will be noted that the ball valve 96 will at all times be at its raised position to close the reservoir 98 when the apparatus is operated in the condition shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Thus, there is a constant pressure in the system caused first by the pump in its upstroke and subsequently by the spring expending its force into the stream when the pump is in its downstroke. The fluid in the system merely shuttles back and forth between the piston 94 of the pump and the piston 78 in the recess 74.

In FIG. 5, .hand piece control valve 44 is rotated to a completely open position so that the rear portion 66 of the valve member body aligns with the passageway 40a and thereby allows communication from passageway 40a to a passageway 40b past the lower portion 60 of valve 44. Under these conditions, an intermittent flow from the chamber 98 is established upon each stroke of the piston 94.

It is to be noted that the lower portion 60 of valve 44 gradually varies from the large diameter at 64 to the smaller diameter at 66 on at least the side of shoulder 65. This permits the operator to choose a position intermediate the fully open position of FIG. 5 or fully closed position of FIGS. 2, 3 or 4 and thus control to some extent the amount of fluid passing through said body member. In other words, in the intermediate position depicted in- FIG. 9, a portion of the liquid stream ejected during any single pulse will be returned toward the lavage appliance at the conclusion of the stroke and th remainder will pass through the hand piece. 1

To enable a more finite tuning of the fluid stream toward the passageway 40!), the inlet passageway 40a immediately opposite the piston 78 may be modified from the circular shape as shown in FIGS. 2-5. Thus, it has been found desirable in certain applications to form this opening in the configuration ofa rectangular slot 104 as shown in FIGS. 6-9. The slot permits less orifice opening to be introduced by the same rotation of the knob 36 than would be the case for a circular opening at this point. This results in a longer range from the "arr" to the on" position. While such a slot may be variously dimensioned to obtain differing flow characteristics, it has been found that verysatisfactory results are obtained with a slot having its width lying in a plane perpendicular to the axis of cavity 42 and corresponding to the diameter of the passage 40a, and a height on the order of one-eighth its width.

'Thus, it will beappreciated that in accordance with the above disclosure, a hand piece for an oral lavage or any similar device which produces a pulsating stream ofliquid is provided with means integral with the hand piece for controlling the flow of liquid therefrom, ln addition. the full fluid pressure as generated by the pump is directed toward the hand piece and remains constant regardless of the degree of opening of the control valve.

It should be understood that modifications may be made in the illustrated and described embodiment of my invention without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

lclaim:

l. A hand piece for use with an appliance of the type that delivers a pulsating stream of liquid from a reservoir comprising a body member; conduit means defining a passageway extending through said body member, said passageway having a first terminal portion defining an inlet orifice and adapted to be coupled to said appliance and a second terminal portion defining a discharge orifice; valve means communicating with said passageway and adapted to control the flow of liquid therethrough', means for shifting said valve to an open position wherein all the liquid delivered by said appliance passes to said discharge orifice, a closed position wherein the liquid delivered by said appliance is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice and an intermediate position wherein only a proportional part of the liquid delivered by said appliance passes to said discharge orifice and the remainder is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice; and, pressure absorbing means coupled to said valve and adapted to absorb the quantity of liquid that is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice during the course of a single pulse and to direct the same toward said inlet orifice at the conclusion of said pulse.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said body member further includes surfaces defining a cavity into the body interior, said passageway is disposed within the interior of said body member, said cavity communicates with said passageway, and said valve means and pressure absorbing means are disposed within said cavity.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said valve member includes an elongated body portion adapted to seat adapted to communicate with said passageway and extending inwardly from an outer surface of said body portion to a closed end, a piston slideably mounted within said chamber, and resilient means housed within said chamber between said recess closed end and said piston wherein said valve member is in a closed or partially closed position the quantity of liquid delivered from said appliance during a single pulse that does not pass to said discharge orifice displaces said piston and said resilient means sufficient to permit said quantity of liquid to be stored within said chamber for the duration of the pulse and, at the end of said pulseand prior to the following pulse, said resilient means returns to its normal uncompressed condition and cooperates with said piston to direct said quantity of liquid toward said inlet orifice.

4; The invention in accordance with claim 3 wherein said resilient means comprises a helically wound spring.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 3 wherein said resilient means comprises entrapped air.

6. The invention in accordance with claim 3. wherein the cross-sectional configurationof said cavity is substantially circular and the cross-sectional configuration of said valve member body portion comprises two concentric circular segments of unequal diameter, the diameter of the larger of said circular segments being substantially equal to the diameter of said cavity, the diameter of the smaller segment being somewhat less than the diameter of said cavity and said chamber defining recess extends inwardly from portions of said larger circular segment.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 6 wherein said larger circular segment and said smaller circular segment are con nected by opposed shoulders and at least one of said shoulders defines a gradual taper between said larger segment and said smaller segment.

8. In combination, an oral lavage appliance of the type that produces a pulsating stream of liquid and a hand piece for use therewith, said hand piece comprising a body member having conduit means defining a passageway extending therethrough, said passageway having a first terminal portion defining an inlet orifice and adapted to be coupled to a said appliance and a second terminal portion defining a discharge orifice; valve means communicating with said passageway and adapted to control the flow of liquidtherethrough; means for shifting said valve to an open position wherein all the liquid delivered by said appliance passes to said discharge orifice, a closed position wherein the liquid delivered by said appliance is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice, and an intermediate position wherein only a proportional part of the liquid delivered by said appliance passes tosaid discharge orifice and the remainder is prevented from passingtosaid discharge orifice; and, pressure absorbing means coupled to said valve and adapted to absorb the quantity of liquid that is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice during the course of a single pulse and to direct the same toward said inlet orifice at the conclusion of said pulse.

9. The invention as set forth in claim 8 wherein said body member further includes surfaces defining a cavity into the body interior, said passageway is disposed within the interior of said body member, said cavity communicates with said passageway, and said valve means and pressure absorbing means are disposed within said cavity.

10. The invention as set forth in claim 9 wherein said valve member includes an elongated body portion adapted to seat within said cavity, and said pressure-absorbing means includes a piston chamber defined by a recess in said body portion a piston-chamber defined by a recess in said body portion adapted to communicate with said passageway and extending inwardly from an outer surface of said body portion to a closed end, a piston slideably mounted within said chamber, and resilient means housed within said chamber between said recess closed end and said piston wherein when said valve member is in a closed or partially closed position the quantity of liquid delivered from said appliance during a single pulse that does not pass to said discharge orifice displaces said piston and said resilient means sufficient to permit said quantity of liquid to be stored within said chamber for the duration of the pulse and, at the end of said pulse and prior to the following pulse, said resilient means returns to its normal uncompressed condition and cooperates with said piston to direct said quantity ofliquid toward said inlet orifice.

11. The invention in accordance with claim 10 wherein the cross-sectional configuration of said inlet orifice immediately opposite said piston is a slot.

12. The invention in accordance with claim 10 wherein said resilient means comprises a helically wound spring.

13. The invention in accordance with claim 10 wherein said resilient means comprises entrapped air.

14. The invention in accordance with claim 10 wherein the cross-sectional configuration of said cavity is substantially circular and the. cross-sectional configuration of said valve member body portion comprises two concentric circular segments of unequal diameter, the diameter of the larger of said circular segments being substantially equal to the diameter of said cavity, the diameter of the smaller segment being somewhat less than the diameter of said cavity and said chamber defining recess extends inwardly from portions of said larger circular segment.

IS.- The invention as set forth in claim 14 wherein said larger circular segment and said smaller circular segment are connected by opposed shoulders and at least one of said shoulders defines a gradual taper between said larger segment and said smallersegment.

16. In an appliance of the type that delivers a pulsating stream of liquid from a reservoir comprising a body member; conduit means defining a passageway extending through said body member, said passageway having'a first terminal portion defining an inlet orifice and adapted to be coupled to said appliance and a second terminal portion defining a discharge orifice; valve meanslcommunicating with said passageway and adapted to control the flow of liquid therethrough; means for shifting said valve to an open position wherein all the liquid delivered by said appliance passes to said discharge orifice, a

closed position whereinthe liquid delivered by said appliance is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice and an intermediate position wherein only a proportional part of the liquid delivered by said appliance passes to said discharge orifice and the remainder is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice; and, pressure absorbing means coupled to said valve and adapted to absorb the quantity of liquid that is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice during the course of a single pulse and to direct the same toward said inlet orifice at the conclusion of said pulse.

17 In an appliance of the type that delivers a pulsating stream of liquid comprising a body member having conduit means defining a passageway extending therethrough said passageway having a-l'irst terminal portion defining an inlet orifice and adapted to be coupled to said appliance and a second terminal portion defining a discharge orifice; valve means communicating with said passageway and adapted to control the flow ofliquid therethrough; means for shifting said valve to an open position wherein all the liquid delivered by said appliance passes to said discharge orifice, a closed position wherein the liquid delivered by said appliance is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice, and an intermediate position wherein only a proportional part of the liquid delivered by said appliance passes to said discharge orifice and the remainder is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice; and, pressure absorbing means coupled to said valve and adapted to absorb the quantity of liquid that is prevented from passing to said discharge orifice during the course of a single pulse and to direct the same toward said inlet orifice at the conclusion ofsaid pulse. 

